Astronomy Montage

Loading...

Sunday, January 22, 2006

29 Orionis

This is a yellow giant Mag 4.14 star which is 174 Light Years Away. To the upper right is the bright star Tau Orionis Mag 3.60. To the bottom right one can just about see the brilliant glow of Rigel. To the top left one can just about see HR1840 and Thabit. Using my 20x80 binoculars in the field of 29 Orionis and going from center south and then anticlockwise towards south west areHD35261 Mag 7.58HD35353 Mag 7.69HR1778 Mag 5.90HD35155 Mag 6.86Travelling north west from thereHD34892 Mag 7.54

Although stable hydrogen gas is invisible optically, its presence is especially concentrated along the disk of our galaxy in its vast spiral arms. One such region is associated with the Orion Complex. So take some time to scan the sky due south of 3.4 magnitude Eta Orionis and note how few stars are visible between it and 4.2 magnitude 29 Orionis - some 5 and a half degrees away. Such regions are known to have high concentrations of 21 cm radiation caused by hydrogen gas that has yet to begin coalescing into new Suns such as our own.

Further details can be found athttp://www.universetoday.com/whatsup/Whats-Up-2006-365days-Q1-Jan-Feb-Mar.pdf